Journal Press India^®

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Each locomotive has an individual water cooling system, in which water is circulated by a centrifugal water pump gear driven from the engine crank shaft. A diesel engine operates efficiently when the water temperature is between 63 0C to 83 0C. In I.C. Engines, during the process of combustion gas temperature often reaches quite a high value and thus the cylinder walls, cylinder and the piston gets heated. Therefore, the water cooling system is provided to overcome seizure of piston & cylinder, loss of power, engine failure, sticking of piston rings & excessive wear of cylinder. A temperature of 85 0C for coolant is ideal. Below 70 0C condensation of acids would occur causing corrosion & rusting. If the temperature of the cooling water is not controlled it leads to either overheating or overcooling of the engine. The cooling system is provided with safety devices, which guards against high water temperature & low water level. When the temperature of water reaches a pre-determined value, an alarm bell starts ringing & simultaneously the engine is returned to the idle value. There is also a specific Maintenance procedure of the water cooling system to get the optimum output. In the present study, failure analyses of the past few years (2011-2013) have been studied thoroughly.

Keywords

Locomotives; Cooling System; I.C.Engines; Water Temperature; Safety Devices; Maintenance; Failure Analysis

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